Ocimum gratissimum, also referred to as scent leaf, is a very medicinal leaf. It is an African leaf that is native to some parts of Africa and Asia. It is majorly used as a culinary herb because of its medical benefits, aside from its nice smell. It is known as ‘efinrin’ in Yoruba, ‘nchanwu’ in Igbo and ‘daidoya’ in Hausa.
Scent leaf is known for its strong aromatic herbal benefit to the body. It can be boiled, blended, and cooked as a vegetable stew or as a spice. It contains vital substances that are of great benefit to the body. It contains vitamin A, carbon, iron, phosphorus, and calcium.
Due to its power to cure illnesses, it is usually referred to as the fever leaf. Scent leaves have multipurpose uses. It can be used as a local ingredient to cook pepper soup, yam porridge, plantain porridge, jollof rice, beans, ukwa, ogbono soup or Egusi soup.
Scent leaf can also be a vegetable spice that adds to every meal a unique taste and aroma. It has great health benefits you might need to know about. It is not usually cultivated, especially before you can have it around. It is usually found around homes due to its uniqueness.
So just in case you find one growing around you, be sure that you have a great plant that can be of great medical benefit to you. Scent leaf has the following medicinal uses:
1. It fights bad breath
Research has it that chewing the stem of the scent leaf fights bad breath. Scent leaf kills bacteria in the mouth which eliminates bad breath. It is also good for your teeth. Fighting the bacteria in your mouth prevents mouth decay.
2. It prevents malaria or fever
As it is fondly called ‘fever leaf’, it is a potent treatment for malaria in Nigeria, especially when mixed with bitter leaf. You can boil, squeeze or smear it to drink in order to prevent sickness. It has been proven that people who take this often as a drink do not get sick easily. It builds a strong defence against malaria or fever.
3. It stops stomach ache, dysentery, diarrhea
Scent leaf is a herbal plant that calms the bowels. It also helps evacuate the bowels of any unwanted visitors that can be found in the body. By doing this, it eases stomach aches, stops dysentery, cholera, diarrhea, and other stomach discomforts.
4. It aids digestion of food
Cooking scent leaf as a vegetable soup, adding it to your food as a spice or boiling it as a tea helps aid proper digestion of food. Proper digestion of food reduces bloating.
5. It aids in the production of milk in the breast
Scent leaf is also medicinal for breastfeeding mothers. It helps with the production of milk in the breast.
6. It lowers blood sugar level
A lot of medicinal benefits can be found in scent leaves. It contains calcium and magnesium, which help to reduce the blood sugar level. Scent leaf protects the islets that produce insulin for the body. It also helps the heart function properly by eliminating unnecessary and harmful cholesterol from the body.
7. It can be used as a mosquito repellant
Do you know that having this plant around scares off mosquitoes? To reduce the population of mosquitoes and flies in your environment, you might just need to pluck the leaves and place them in strategic areas.
8. It cures colds and catarrh
Scent leaf is very medicinal for cold and catarrh. This is why people who have cold attacks request pepper soup with scent leaf. It clears nasal congestion easily.
